Discovering and Backing Big Ideas

At Spencer Trask & Co., our motto, “First to See the Light,” embodies our commitment to recognizing and nurturing transformative ideas that reshape the world. For over a century, we have partnered with pioneers to illuminate new eras of human progress, from the dawn of electricity to the rise of artificial intelligence.

Spencer Trask recognized the potential of Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb in the 1870s. As president of the Edison Electric Light Company, the predecessor to Consolidated Edison, Trask provided critical financial backing that turned Edison’s invention into the foundation of global electrification. This bold investment brought light to homes, powered industries, and transformed society, setting the stage for the modern age.

In the 1990s, we continued this legacy by partnering with Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser. Alongside Gould’s head of light optics research, Dave Huber, and our Chairman, Kevin Kimberlin, we co-founded Ciena Corporation. At a time when the internet was in its infancy with only two web servers worldwide, Ciena’s laser-based fiber-optic technology, known as dense wavelength-division multiplexing, revolutionized connectivity. Today, Ciena’s systems power nearly 99% of global internet traffic, earning recognition from The Optical Society in 1996 as “the real dawn of the Internet.”

The high-capacity networks enabled by Ciena’s fiber-optic technology, built on Gould’s laser innovations, now serve as the backbone for artificial intelligence. These systems facilitate the massive data flows that AI relies on to process, learn, and innovate. From smart cities to autonomous systems, our contributions to connectivity are driving AI’s transformative impact across industries and improving lives worldwide.

“First to See the Light” reflects our ability to spot groundbreaking ideas early and our dedication to turning them into realities that deliver lasting impact. From Edison’s light bulb to Ciena’s fiber optics and the AI-driven future, Spencer Trask & Co. remains committed to fostering innovation that illuminates the path forward. We seek visionaries who dare to dream big and partner with them to create a brighter, more connected world.

Join Us in Shaping the Future

The optical amplifier ushered in the Information Age and enabled the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

Columbia University student Gordon Gould invented the optical amplifier (the laser). He then co-founded Optelecom Inc., the world’s first optical networking company to develop it into an “optical amplification and wave mixing” system.  Gould’s head of light optics research, Dave Huber, and Kevin Kimberliln of Spencer Trask & Co founded Ciena Corp., when only 2 web servers existed in the world.  

Their contribution to powering the Internet was recognized by The Optical Society (OSA) in their History of Optics over the past century.

“In the decade from 1996 to 2005, breakthroughs in fiber optics and networking transformed society and laid the groundwork for the global Internet.”

The OSA selected1996 as the beginning of this societal transformation because: “That first commercial DWDM system was ‘the real dawn of the Internet.’

Ciena’s dense WDM powered the explosive growth of the internet and made Ciena the fastest growing firm in its first year of operation in American business history.

Today, nearly 99% of all traffic is transported by the optical amplifiers at the heart of WDM systems.

Non-infectious viral vaccines.

In the history of medicine, few figures have had as profound an impact on human health and wellbeing as Dr. Jonas Salk. His polio vaccine breakthrough was the culmination of centuries of research, dating back to Louis Pasteur discovering inoculation. However, Salk’s method was different. He found a way to protect people from viruses without giving them the very disease the vaccine was designed to prevent.

Using this no-infection method, Salk worked with Kevin Kimberlin of Spencer Trask to develop cancer vaccines and an immunotherapeutic to slow or prevent AIDS. They patented and conducted preclinical studies on a cancer vaccine that demonstrated a startling 90% protection against lethal malignancies.

A fusion of dendritic cells and the cancer antigen, their technology formed the basis for the first FDA-approved cell-based immunotherapy. Over 40,000 men with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer have received the treatment, and it appears especially effective for African-American men who receive a 48% improved survival benefit compared to white men.

The team and facility making this immunotherapy also made clinical and commercial supplies of the first approved gene therapy, the CAT-T drug Kymriah.

The first approved cell-base immunotherapy and gene therapy prompted the FDA Commissioner to say, “New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold out the potential to transform medicine and create an inflection point in our ability to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses.”

The noninfectious vaccine approach developed by Jonas Salk eliminated polio from the developed countries, his flu vaccine mitigated the effects of influenza for the past 75 years, and finally, the cancer vaccine developed at his Immune Response Corporation led the way to gene, cell-based, and immune therapy innovations that will impact human health for generations. In summary, Salk released the last step in enabling the most important preventative medicine – non-infectious viral vaccination.

Artificial intelligence (AI) plus chaos theory mathematics reveals structure from unstructured social, web and dark web data.

With chaos physics pioneer, Dr. Minh van Duong, we built the artificial intelligence platform at the core of Interos, the first real-time, supply chain risk monitoring service. With it, Interos created the world’s largest business relationship graph with approximately 350 million entities, representing 18 billion business relationships.

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of supply chain interdependencies. The resulting breakdown of globalization put Interos at the center of the greatest realignment of world trade since World War II. Supply chain resilience, a market that Interos pioneered, has grown from a standing start three years ago to the point where 75% of American businesses now plan to install automated supply chain monitoring. As the leader in this exploding field, Interos reached Unicorn status based on a $100 million investment from Accenture, Venrock, Knight Dragon and Kleiner Perkins.

Raj Raheja, Anantha Sethuraman, and Spencer Trask & Co. founded the world’s first AI-driven semiconductor company, unveiling a revolutionary “virtual factory” of 300 advanced simulation modules that, once integrated with Applied Materials’ AIx platform, transformed chip manufacturing, boosted efficiency, and accelerated the rise of the AI era.

The solution to this monumental problem emerged after Regis McKenna, the marketing whiz behind Apple, resigned as partner at Kleiner Perkins, to start a venture fund with Kevin Kimberlin as his largest partner. Managing partners, Amiel Kornel and Steve McGrath, joined Spencer Trask & Co. and introduced Kimberlin to Raj Raheja.

As part of the team who built the first U.S. fab for IBM in Fishkill, NY, Raheja had a unique insight for solving a major problem. He wanted to simulate the entire semiconductor design and manufacturing process in a virtual factory to eliminate chip defects. His idea took root when he and Spencer Trask & Co. formed DFMsim Inc., supported by $3 million from Spencer Trask and Tom Caulfield, now CEO of GlobalFoundries.

Under the leadership of CEO Anantha Sethuraman, DFMsim assembled a team with over 120 years of combined experience in semiconductor manufacturing. They developed 300 simulation modules, each addressing a specific aspect of the design-to-manufacturing process. A major break came in 2008 when DFMsim acquired GPU technology to deliver 3-D simulations using NVIDIA chips, an industry first in silicon design visualization.

DFMsim’s technology has been integrated into Applied Materials’ AI platform called AIx (Actionable Insight Accelerator). As the global leader providing materials, equipment, and engineering solutions for nearly every chip produced today, Applied Materials is leveraging DFMsim’s simulations to drive the Age of Intelligence.

The AIx platform is revolutionizing semiconductor manufacturing with capabilities including:

• Angstrom-Level Metrology: In-vacuum and inline systems capable of over one million 3D wafer measurements per hour, with precision at the angstrom (0.1 nanometer) scale.
• Real-Time Process Optimization: AI algorithms analyze data in real-time, suggesting process adjustments to maximize yield and performance.
• Predictive Maintenance: Machine learning models predict equipment failures before they occur, minimizing costly downtime.
• Design for Manufacturability: Integrated simulation tools allow chip designers to optimize their designs for specific manufacturing processes.

The impact of DFMsim’s technology extends far beyond improving chip yields. As we enter the angstrom era of chip design, the ability to simulate and optimize at nano-scale is becoming essential for advances in GPUs for AI, quantum computing, and neuromorphic chip innovations.

DFMsim’s technology is not just participating in the AI revolution – it’s actively shaping it, fab by fab, chip design by chip design.

Read the White Paper

Scientific analysis revealed that 20-30% of U.S. medical procedures were unnecessary, with treatment rates varying dramatically by region despite similar patient outcomes.

Dr. Jack Wennberg uncovered this systemic problem and created the Dartmouth Atlas of Geographical Variation to visualize treatment disparities. When his Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making faced collapse, George Bennett and Chris McKown formed Health Dialog and teamed up with Kevin Kimberlin of Spencer Trask & Co. They transformed Wennberg’s academic insights into practical solutions by building a company that served 24 million people with evidence-based medical information. Health Dialog grew to 2,000 employees and $330 million in revenue before its $775 million acquisition by BUPA.

As World Bank President Jim Yong Kim noted, Wennberg’s work represents “new forms of knowledge with the power to reshape a major field of human practice.” Beyond the difference made by Health Dialog, their evidence-based mission inspired and influenced the formation of the Affordable Care Act, which now provides health insurance to over 40 million Americans.

Crowdfunding and the friction-free USDCoin, funding new ventures and a digital dollar currency.

Spencer Trask & Co. negotiated the license for the SeedInvest platform at its inception, becoming one of its major Series A investors in the process. SeedInvest grew into a network of 500,000 investors who have bought into 250 startups. In 2018, by acquisition, SeedInvest received 9 million Series E Preferred shares in Circle Internet, the week after Circle launched its U.S. Dollar stablecoin (USDC).

Circle powers a leading blockchain-based USDC with a mission to raise global prosperity through a frictionless exchange of value. Addressing markets such as reducing immigrant remittance fees from the standard 7% to below 2%, the USDC payment volume in 2020 was equal to 50% of PayPal’s total. Today, it is the most trusted and fastest growing stablecoin. According to the CEO, the USDC will surpass PayPal in transacted dollar value in a few years. Following a $400 million investment by Fidelity Management and Blackrock, the combined firm was valued at $9 billion.

In June 2025 Circle completed its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, raising about $1.05 billion at $31 per share and finishing its first trading day at $83.23, which implied a market capitalization near $8 billion. The listing delivered substantial liquidity to SeedInvest shareholders and underscored the platform’s ability to identify and nurture companies that redefine global finance.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a building block for making and repairing all the structural tissues in the human body–including cartilage, bone, ligaments, marrow, muscles, and more.

Dr. Arnold Caplan first identified MSCs and realized their enormous therapeutic potential. Spencer Trask & Co. and Caplan founded Osiris Therapeutics and created the network that enabled its growth as the industry leader in regenerative medicine. Osiris validated the regenerative potential of MSCs in a foundational paper cited more than 27,000 times.

In an early trial, MSC therapy became the first allogeneic cell therapy to be granted compassionate use, saving 160 children from the highly fatal graft-versus-host disease. Osiris then developed a cellular matrix product line that was acquired by Smith and Nephews for $660 million.

MSCs are currently being tested to treat >1000 different medical conditions, more than any other drug ever.

Read The MSC: Regeneration Orchestrator

The flagship Fastcase service taps into the entire corpus of U.S. law—encompassing all 50 states, all federal and appellate courts, the U.S. Code, the Federal Register from its inception, and the complete Congressional Record. Leveraging predictive analytics and AI-enhanced tools, Fastcase enables unprecedented insight into millions of pages of legal documents. Users gain exclusive analytical capabilities, such as case-prediction indicators related to judges, venues, adversaries, and attorneys, as well as metrics on gender diversity within law firms.

Spencer Trask & Co. was the first institutional investor and ultimately became the largest shareholder of the company, demonstrating early confidence in Fastcase’s vision and technology. To further strengthen its technological infrastructure, Fastcase acquired Judicata—a legal search firm originally funded by Khosla Ventures and Peter Thiel and run by Blake Masters (now COO of Thiel Ventures). The Judicata senior team remained with Fastcase, ensuring continuity of expertise and innovation.

Fastcase merged with vLex in a transaction backed by private equity leaders Bain Capital and Oakley Capital. This strategic union created the world’s largest law firm subscriber base, amassing over one billion legal documents. Now serving a combined 3.8 million users across more than 100 countries, the new venture offers unprecedented, intelligent access to the most expansive repository of legal and regulatory information worldwide.

In June 2025, Clio, one of the world’s leading legal technology companies, signed a definitive agreement to acquire the vLex-Fastcase enterprise in a cash and stock deal valued at US $1 billion. This landmark acquisition will integrate Fastcase’s global research and AI capabilities with Clio’s practice-management platform, accelerating delivery of comprehensive, data-driven tools that further democratize access to the law for practitioners and the public alike.
Read our blog post to learn more.

Isolate the mutated genes that predispose the greatest number of people to disease, the most dangerous elements of the human genome.

The Human Genome Project was conceived by Nobel-prize winner, Dr. Walter Gilbert, and enabled by Mark Skolnick’s search to find the Breast Cancer Gene.  With Spencer Trask, Gilbert and Skolnick started Myriad Genetics, the first firm to develop products from the human genome.

Myriad Genetics discovered the Breast Cancer Gene BRCA1 – “the most exciting story in medical science” as James Watson put it. A woman knowing her risk could take steps to mitigate or eliminate cancer before it appeared.

Based on this discovery, Myriad created three genomic medicine milestones: the firm built the world’s first genetic testing lab; offered the first genetic cancer predisposition test; and marketed the first DNA-repair drug and diagnostic combination.

With these services, women who know their BRCA status can make informed decisions and live longer, healthier lives. For instance, DNA-repair drugs like PARP inhibitors are very effective for patients with BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations, but of no value to others. Therefore women with the gene mutation can expect to benefit from PARP inhibitors, while those without it should save time and money, and seek other options.

Another test, GeneSight helps doctors select effective mental health medications, based on the patient’s unique genetic profile. This category-leading pharmacogenomic test predicts how a person will respond to 64 medications commonly prescribed for depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychiatric conditions.

Myriad diagnostics have saved the lives of tens of thousands of women, the most well known being Angelina Jolie. By understanding the fundamental role that genes and molecular insights play in human health, Myriad is leading the transformation of medicine from treating symptoms, to predicting and preventing diseases related to the human genome.

Evidence-based “food as medicine” and personalized nutrition coaching offer a cost-saving alternative to weight-loss drugs, helping people change unhealthy eating habits and improve overall health.

When Stefany Shaheen struggled to manage her young daughter’s Type 1 diabetes, she partnered with George Bennett—who had already transformed the healthcare industry with Health Dialog, growing it from a $30 million to a $775 million enterprise. Together, they created the Good Measures Index to provide objective guidance on how nutrition affects health. Backed by Spencer Trask & Co., they launched the first platform to combine personalized nutrition, clinical coaching, and innovative technology.

To tackle the obesity crisis and reduce both medical costs and preventable deaths, NationsBenefits and Good Measures introduced the first nationally scalable system for evidence-based nutrition coaching and meal delivery. Good Measures’ clients include Verily, Google’s healthcare initiative; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and Tufts University, which conducted a major study showing that a nationwide “Food is Medicine” program could prevent 1.6 million hospitalizations each year and save billions in healthcare costs—a truly rare solution that is both cost-effective and cost-saving.

*Good Measures was acquired by NationsBenefits, a leader in healthcare benefits and fintech solutions. This merger combines Good Measures’ Food as Medicine expertise with NationsBenefits’ reach, delivering 25 million meals annually to over 100 health plans. Together, they form the first platform to fully integrate fintech, healthcare, and measurable outcomes.